With the 1st XI’s match cancelled at the last minute, Sunday saw the youngest of the Abergavenny Women FC teams line up at Pen-y-Pound stadium and take centre stage, reports ANDREW KENNEDY.

It was disappointing when Merthyr Town FC Women declared itself unable to field a side against the Adran League South leaders on Saturday night.

But the Pennies have two younger teams – the U16s and U19s – and while each enjoy regular matches, the club is also well known for its pathway giving its younger players opportunities as steps towards the 1st team, which has its sights on joining the Adran Premier league.

The club prides itself on the ethos ‘Develop as a Club, Deliver as a Family.’

The U19s play on Friday evenings, while the U16s are generally in action on Sundays at the same time as the 1st XI.

On Friday the U19s took on Pencoed Athletic BGC and worked incredibly hard to secure a draw, the 0-0 scoreline not reflecting that two well matched teams were going head to head and each was determined to win

The U16s away match at Llanyrafon has by now been re-arranged to be at Lower Meadow in Abergavenny, but the 1st XI postponement then saw it switched to Pen-Y-Pound.

Fans found themselves watching players that perhaps they had never seen in action before, and could see that there is much to be enthusiastic about in regard to the talented players coming through the Abergavenny Women FC pathway.

Eleri Jones was both dominant and efficient in attack, her first goal coming on nine minutes, with Bethan Jarrett adding another just five minutes later.

And Eleri soon had a hat trick thanks to goals in the 25th and 34th minutes, with a fourth added at 41 minutes.

Each time she surged forward it seemed that another goal was on the cards.

Now 5-0 down, and with only 10 players to call upon, the Llanyrafon goalie kept the scoreline down, and her team did its utmost to stay in the game.

But three more goals proved unstoppable, the scorers being Abergavenny’s Renee Hurn, Megan Welford – a cracking cross from Bella Wilce that was volleyed in – and Bethan Jarrett with her second for an 8-0 win.

The club looks to have four fixtures this week – away at Cardiff Met WFC on Tuesday (U19s), away at Cardiff City Women FC on Friday (U19s), with the Sunday matches both at home, to Barry Town United (U16s), and the rearranged Merthyr Town FC Women 1st XI fixture.

Kick-off for the latter match is 2pm at Pen-Y-Pound, and entry is free to ‘come along and support the Pennies’, although any donation is appreciated.